Quilting Owl

I have spent a lot of time over the last few days looking through some very old photos and picking out the ones with my sister Anne in them and thought I would put up some of them as a tribute to her.  The first was taken in the hallway of our old family home just before she married John with me as one of her bridesmaids. Here she is sitting on the front fence at home with our niece, Maree, who was the first grandchild for my parents and then 21 or so years later with Maree's daughter, Melinda. Here is a photo of the six of us (the "Deakin girls") at Margaret's (No 1) 50th birthday celebrations Anne with her husband John taken the same night Another family outing and this time to celebrate Tricia's (No 2) 50th birthday I just love this photo because it was so typical of so many family gatherings at home when a group of us would always end up around the dinner table having a laugh. We miss her already but she will be in a heart...

While it is still the calm before the storm, or I should say Cyclone Ita, I thought I would share some of the latest quilt happenings. My third sister, Anne, has been having a very rough time healthwise of late so I made a quilt to celebrate her 70th birthday.  It is often difficult choosing colours for other people so I opted for somthing bright and cheerful and was pleased to hear from her and her daughter how delighted she was with her present. "To Anne with Love" by Frances Leate Meanwhile I am still keeping on track with Barbara's Brackman's BOM "Threads of Memory" and here is Block 3.  The next temptation is to start on her Jane Austen Album quilt. "New Garden Star" Block 3, Threads of Memory Pauline has now layered her version of my "Night Owl" quilt and I am looking forward to seeing the finished quilt. Currently it is still calm outside the studio with just the odd shower of rain and I am now just waiting ...

After a wonderful but very busy trip south we are finally home in the beautiful Far North though somewhat exhausted from trying to fit in too much in a very short time, not to mention a few hiccups with delayed flight schedules.  The first thing on the agenda was the Quilt and Craft Show at Darling Harbour where once again the NSW Guild put on a first rate show.  I was lucky enough to meet up with quite a few friends who have given me permission to show their quilts which I will do in the next post when I sort through my photos. Looking down on the Guild Quilt Display At the Craft Show it has become a tradition for us to meet up with my sisters and family and we enjoyed a wonderful day visiting lots of stalls, lunching, laughing and chatting. Marie, Frances, Patricia, Maree (niece) and Margaret We also managed to catch up with Peter's son, daughters and grandchildren- Fliss, Jude, Peter and Leif Daniel, Peter, Kaen and Patrick Then it was off to Bri...

I just found these photos in my camera taken at the last meeting of the Sunday Stitchers and a very happy and industrious group they were. Sunday Stitchers at Cairns Craft Centre There were some amazing projects such as this vibrant and rich hexagon quilt that Deborah was working on.  Jacqui has finished her amazing yellow and black octagon quilt. I couldn't resist including this photo of a very happy baby Jude with the Hungary Caterpillar quilt made by Peter and quilted by me. Till next time Frances

There is only a few more blocks to come for the Civil War Quilt project so I have decided to do the Farmers Wife quilt next.  For the last few weeks I have been trying to restrain myself from starting this new project but to no avail and here are the first nine blocks I have pieced.  I agonised for a while on what colour pallette to use but finally decided to make the blocks very scrappy with earthy country tones.  These 6" blocks are very addictive and I don't think it will take me too long to finish the 111 blocks in the book unless of course another projects distracts me first.  There is no doubt about it I am a blocks and borders girl and I know I am going to love piecing these blocks as much as the Civil War ones. Our next round of visitors arrived in Cairns this week and what better way to welcome them than with a birthday cake with lots of strawberries, cream and candles.  Peter's daughter, Liz, with Amiel and Kaen  Till next time Frances

Today was a wonderful day because I got to welcome to the Far North for the first time my niece, Maree, and her daughter, Nicole, who sailed into Cairns on the P&O cruise ship the "Pacific Sun".  This was the first of many visits from family and friends that we are looking forward to over the next 3 weeks.  Their ship docked at the city's new Cruise Liner Terminal very centrally located right in town and we took in some of the local sight on a steamy and tropical day.  Nicole and Maree at Cairns Craft Centre Maree with me at Palm Cove Till next time Frances

Living in the Far North of Australia I don't often get to meet up with other quilting bloggers so it was a wonderful opportunity today to be able to spend a few hours with Wendy Whellum of Legend and Lace .  Wendy's many quilt projects have been well published in magazines over the last 6 years and it was great to have Wendy visit me in the Studio and talk quilting. As usual, Peter performed his magic in the kitchen and whipped up a lovely batch of scones for afternoon tea. Other recent visitors were Peter's youngest daughter, Fliss, husband Tim and very cute son, Leif.  Peter enjoyed taking them around some of the wonderful local attractions and here he is holding a koala for Leify to pat at The Habitat, Port Douglas. Till next time Frances

Happy Christmas to all my wonderful friends out there in blogland.  It has been an amazing experience venturing into this world in cyberspace and I really appreciate and value the friendship and wonderful comments from my loyal followers.  I hope you all have a really wonderful day today and enjoy the rest of the holiday season. Well the house is now cleaner than it was and somewhat tidy although I am sure that will not last long.  Santa has been and the tree is looking very tempting with lots of goodies for Peter and me under it - we are really just two big kids at Christmas!!! I thought I would share this special hand stitched gift I received from Lesleigh which now lives on the chair in our Studio.  Lesleigh stitches everything by hand and never uses a machine or iron and does wonderful work.  Thank you again Lesleigh for this beautiful present. Peter received a hand made card and lovely letter from one of his grandsons who is 7 years old which is n...

While we were at the Sydney Quilt Show, Peter took a photo of me doing a stint with the "white gloves" in front of the "Best of Australia" winning quilt.  It was great to get up close and personal with some of these outstanding quilts When Peter put on the white gloves he was kept busy showing the back of the amazing "Royal Amethyst" quilt by Rachelle Denneny. Four of my sisters who all live in Sydney (only 1 of us missing) met me at the Show and we had a great day catching up - there was lots to talk about!! Last year I only managed to round up 3 of my sisters and Peter photographed us in front of the quilt I exhibited "Quest for Gold" (unfortunately the sun made it difficult to get a good photo). Till next time Frances